Locate the adverb phrase and the adjective, verb, verb phrase, or other adverb modified.
We stopped near a mountain stream.
The adverb phrase is near a mountain stream. It modifies the verb, stopped.
In the sentence, "We stopped near a mountain stream," the adverb phrase is "near a mountain stream," and it modifies the verb "stopped."
To identify the adverb phrase, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify the verb in the sentence, which is "stopped."
2. Ask the question "Where did we stop?" to determine the adverb phrase. In this case, the answer to the question is "near a mountain stream."
In this sentence, "near a mountain stream" is the adverb phrase, as it provides additional information about the action of stopping.
Adverb phrases, which are quite common, have a variety of uses. As you recall, an adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb (describing when, how, or where). An adverb phrase, then, can modify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. Most often, though, adverb phrases modify the verb in a sentence.
Examples:
He climbed onto the bus.
The adverb phrase onto the bus modifies the verb climbed.
I wasn't too happy about my purchase.
In this sentence, about my purchase modifies the adjective happy.
The dogs were playing in the snow.
The verb phrase were playing is modified by in the snow.
In the winter, my mother's plants always freeze.
The adverb phrase in the winter modifies the verb freeze.
Adverb phrases often do not directly follow the word they are modifying.
Examples:
Joe finished his first-semester course work in January.
In this sentence, in January acts as an adverb modifying finished.
After the football season, she does not watch TV for six months.
After the football season and for six months both modify does watch.
Be careful not to confuse adverbs with prepositions. A preposition must be followed by an object or it is not a preposition.
Examples:
Amanda found her lost shoe when she went outside.
In this example, outside acts as an adverb telling where. Since no object answers the question "outside what," it is not a preposition.
Amanda found her lost shoe when she went outside the house.
Since an object has been added after outside, the modifier becomes a prepositional phrase with house acting as the object of outside.